Kobe Bryant told ESPN’s Jalen Rose that it takes a special kind of player to want to play for the Lakers franchise, and that if he has to persuade anyone to uphold the Lakers’ standard, that player should go someplace else. www.espn.com – NBA

There’s a trio of recently named head coaches with ties to Belichick. What can history tell us about Josh McDaniels in Indy or Matt Patricia in Detroit? Here’s a full overview of his past assistants-turned-head coaches. www.espn.com – NFL

The Marlins GM has spent the past two months trading Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Dee Gordon and Christian Yelich. Now he’ll start the hard part of his offseason: running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. www.espn.com – MLB

“LeBron James was born to play basketball, just like Chipper Jones was born to play baseball.” As the switch-hitting icon gets his Cooperstown call, we called upon his friends and former teammates to share stories about the Braves’ newest Hall of Famer. www.espn.com – MLB

The Buffalo Bills are preparing for the franchise’s first playoff game in 18 years, but the status of star running back LeSean McCoy is still uncertain.After missing Wednesday’s workout, McCoy returned to the practice field Thursday. He didn’t stay long, though. Joe Buscaglia of WKBW shared a video of McCoy heading to the athletic trainer’s(…)

James Harrison continues to defend himself in the wake of his decision to sign with the New England Patriots after departing the Pittsburgh Steelers.Harrison noted Friday that he had no choice but to sign with the Patriots in order to keep playing, as they were the only interested party to come forward with an offer.“There(…)